Savoury Cups

Savoury bakes are always a hit at my place. Neha and hubby loves all forms of spicy dishes and this motivates me to try out different recipes from time to time. During last Diwali, I wanted my Diwali platter to have some savoury amidst all sweets and this resulted in the below recipe. Its spicy, soft and fluffy loaded with lots of vegetables and the richness of paneer and cheese.

Ingredients:

For the cups:

• Maida 150 gm (1 cup plus plus few tbsp)
• Whole wheat flour 150 gm ( 1 cup plus few tbsp)
• Instant yeast 1/2 tsp
• Sugar 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil or butter 2 tbsp
• Milk plus warm water (50:50)  1 cup minus 1-2 tbsp

For the filling:

• Paneer crumbled 150 gm
• Onion 1 cut into small pieces
• Capsicum 1 cut into small pieces
• Tomato 1 deseeded and cut into small pieces
• Red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Coriander powder 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves as required
• Salt to taste
• Grated cheese 2 tbsp

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan. Saute onion till it is pink and translucent.
• Add capsicum, tomato, salt and other spices and mix well.
• Add the crumbled paneer and coriander leaves and mix well. Allow it to cool.

• Mix maida, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and instant yeast well.
• Add the milk and water mixture and combine. Add oil and knead into a smooth elastic dough for 10-12 minutes just like how you knead a bread dough.
• Allow the dough to rise in an oiled bowl covered with cling film for an hour, or till it doubles.
• Gently punch the dough and knead again for 1-2 minutes on a floured surface.
• Divide the dough into small pieces. ( I got 16 balls each approx 35-40 gm in weight ).
• Roll each piece into small puris and place them in a greased cup cake mould or muffin tray or silicone cups.
• Lightly press the dough into the cups. Fill each cup with the paneer filling.
• Allow it to prove again for 30-35 minutes. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degree celsius.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes. Sprinkle little grated cheese over the cups and increase the temperature to 200-220 degree celsius and bake again for 3-4 minutes till the cheese melts and you get a nice golden crust.
• Remove from oven and serve hot with tomato sauce.

Notes:

• Use your imagination and alter the fillings. Non vegetarians have multiple options…. keema, egg, tandoori chicken pieces etc…..
• Fill the cups with pizza sauce and vegetables which are usually used in pizza and corresponding Italian seasonings to get pizza cups.
• Try making a sweet version of it with maybe coconut-jaggery-bananas or chocolate and nuts or apple and cinnamon. The list can go on ……
• You can even replace the maida and make it fully with whole wheat flour. I have tried it and it tasted yum 🙂